Filipino Identity Crisis

(student`s name) (course)(professor`s name)(essay number)(date)(Final Draft) Filipino Identity Crisis August 26, 2013 marks an important date in Philippine history. On this day, the Million People March will be launched in various points of the Philippines ADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Rappler.com", "given" : "", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" } ], "container-title" : "Rappler", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2013", "8", "25" ] ] }, "title" : "#MillionPeopleMarch: Nationwide rally points", "type" : "article-newspaper" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=702143f2-d93f-4d6e-8945-711d5da29b1b" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Rappler.com)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" }(Rappler.com), and even abroad call for the government to take concrete steps to battle corruption. Its call for action: to "get to the bottom of this scam, probe, charge, prosecute whoever is involved, and eventually abolish the PDAF (Priority Development Allocation Fund)" ADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Badoy", "given" : "Gang", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" } ], "container-title" : "Esquire Philippines", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2013", "8", "19" ] ] }, "title" : "Who is Organizing This Luneta Protest Gathering?", "type" : "article-newspaper" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=ea5231c5-446e-4e62-9fc8-2f3911aedcef" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Badoy)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" }(Badoy). The scam being mentioned here is the funding of ghost projects through the PDAF amounting to more than 10 billion pesos - money which could`ve been used to secure better health, education and housing for millions of Filipinos in poverty ADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Santos", "given" : "Reynaldo", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" } ], "container-title" : "Rappler", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2013", "8", "25" ] ] }, "title" : "TIMELINE: The road to the Million People March", "type" : "article-newspaper" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=9720cef1-2629-4ea4-a380-9ca299b35ab0" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Santos)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" }(Santos). The call for action began online and then spread like wild fire - a clear indication that the Filipino people are discontent with the way that the government was running. Tagged by its initiators as "social media activated, people powered and no political affiliation" the Million People March was about the ordinary Filipino. In fact, Peachy Rallonza-Bretaña, the reluctant leader of the Million People March, had no political affiliation, she "was a taxpayer who is very angry at what is happening. She is angry and is just inviting people to gather, essentially asking them if they are angry, too" ADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Badoy", "given" : "Gang", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" } ], "container-title" : "Esquire Philippines", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2013", "8", "19" ] ] }, "title" : "Who is Organizing This Luneta Protest Gathering?", "type" : "article-newspaper" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=ea5231c5-446e-4e62-9fc8-2f3911aedcef" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Badoy)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" }(Badoy). As I monitor the goings on online, I see that the invitation has been accepted in various areas in the country. Events supporting the Manila Million People March began sprouting, in just a few hours. At the time of writing, there are simultaneous events happening in Iloilo, Cebu, Davao (in the South), and Baguio (in the North). And I ask myself, why are more and more people joining the call? I receive the answer from one Facebook user who said, "I will join the Million People March because I am a Filipino. I am fighting for the millions of Filipinos who are deprived of quality healthcare and education while people in the government misuse the tax we pay. It is time to act!" The surprising thing is that Filipinos outside the country has heard this same call. Filipinos in Ontario, New York, California have sent their support to organizers of the Million People March in the Philippines. Some have promised to hold their own peaceful protests together with their communities. And so this realization brings me back to this essay: what makes one a Filipino? Is it the color of our skin, or the language that we speak? Do you have to know about the Philippines` history so you can say that you are a Filipino? My stand on the issue is the same as that of Carlos Bulosan, "He is enchained, damnably to his race, his heritage" ADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Revilla", "given" : "Linda A.", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" } ], "chapter-nu...